Jarosław Kaczyński

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Jarosław Kaczyński
Image:Kaczynski.jpg
Prime Minister of Poland
Incumbent
Assumed office 14 July 2006
Preceded by	Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz

Born	18 June 1949 Warsaw
Political party	Prawo i Sprawiedliwość

Jarosław Kaczyński (help·info) (born June 18, 1949) has been the Prime Minister of Poland since July 2006 and is the chairman of Law and Justice (Polish: "Prawo i Sprawiedliwość", PiS), a party which he co-founded in 2001.

1 Family background
2 Early career
3 Elections, 2005
4 Controversial incidents involving Jarosław Kaczyński
5 Prime Minister
6 See also
7 Notes and references
8 External links

[edit] Family background

Jarosław Kaczyński is the identical twin brother of Lech Kaczyński, the President of Poland. Jarosław and Lech were born in Warsaw. The Kaczyński brothers are sons of Rajmund (an engineer who served as a soldier of the Armia Krajowa in World War II and a veteran of the Warsaw Uprising) and Jadwiga (a philologist at the Polish Academy of Sciences). As children, the brothers starred in the 1962 Polish film The Two Who Stole the Moon (Polish: O dwóch takich, co ukradli księżyc), based on a popular children's story by Kornel Makuszyński. Jarosław Kaczyński has never married; however, according to Gazeta Wyborcza [1] there are rumours about his affection toward Polish MP Jolanta Szczypińska. The two have denied allegations about an impending marriage.

Image:TheTwoWhoStoleTheMoon.jpg

[edit] Early career

Jarosław Kaczyński was a member of the Solidarity Trade Union in the 1980s. He was the executive editor of Tygodnik Solidarność weekly in 1989-1990. In 1990, together with Lech, he created the right wing "Porozumienie Centrum" party, and later on he became its chairman (until 1998). During 1991-1993 and 1997-2001 he was a member of the Polish Parliament (Sejm).

[edit] Elections, 2005

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Jarosław Kaczyński was the "Law and Justice" prime minister candidate in the September 2005 Polish parliamentary election<ref> "Polish twins in leadership race", BBC News Online, 2006-09-21. Retrieved on 2006-07-13.</ref>. However, when the party emerged as winner of the election, Jarosław pledged that he would not take the position, expecting that his nomination would reduce the chances of Lech who was a candidate for the October presidential election.

Jarosław Kaczyński was the architect of the coalition with the left wing populist "Self-Defense of the Republic of Poland" (Polish: "Samoobrona") and the deeply conservative christian "League of Polish Families" party. Party-member Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz was appointed Prime Minister.

Lech won the presidential election and was appointed President on 23 December 2005. Soon after, during a live TV broadcast Lech addressed his brother saying "I report mission accomplished", a statement that raised controversy about president's independence.

In the succeeding months, Jarosław Kaczyński was described as a frontbench MP and the leader of his party. Many also described Jarosław Kaczyński as Poland's most influential politician. He was said to have enormous influence on the Prime Minister's decision-making process.

[edit] Controversial incidents involving Jarosław Kaczyński

During the PiS congress on June 3, 2006, which was televised live, Jarosław Kaczyński sang the Polish national anthem incredibly badly and fumbled the lyrics. This put him under extensive media scrutiny and prompted an outburst of both criticism and ridicule.<ref> ""Wiadomości" podejrzane. Poszło o hymn", Gazeta Wyborcza, 2006-06-06. Retrieved on 2006-07-11. (in Polish)</ref> <ref> "Rozśpiewany prezes PiS", Wirtualna Polska, 2006-06-09. Retrieved on 2006-07-11. (in Polish)</ref>

On Saturday, September 23, 2006 Jarosław Kaczyński called a news briefing. He presented a yellow rubber duck (kaczka in Polish) as the symbol of his political party and called upon Poles to feed the ducks with the approach of winter. This was a humorous appeal for political support that used a pun formed out of his last name. <ref> "PM calls on Poles to feed the ducks", Reuters, 2006-09-25. Retrieved on 2006-09-25. (in English)</ref>

On October 1, 2006 Jarosław Kaczyński, at a pro-government rally in Gdańsk Shipyard, compared the opposition to ZOMO, a paramilitary riot police unit during the communist period.<ref> "Precz z komuną, a przedewszystkim precz z postkomuną", Onet.pl, 2006-12-01. Retrieved on 2006-10-01. (in Polish)</ref>

The same month, Poland's second-most important newspaper, Rzeczpospolita, published documents–some only recently declassified, and some that were leaked–from the files of the Polish Secret Service that discussed Prime Minister Kaczyński's homosexuality. <ref>"Poland's Anti-Gay Premier Outed", gaycitynews.com, 2006-10-19. (in English)</ref> The report was also confirmed by former President Lech Wałęsa on national television and has been picked up by several other news outlets. Kaczyński's homosexuality is now an open topic of Polish political life. Like his brother, Kaczyński uses strong anti-homosexual rhetoric, saying things like "homosexuals should not be allowed to teach" or "the affirmation of homosexuality will lead to the downfall of civilization. We can't agree to it." <ref>"New Anti-Gay Regime in Poland", Thy Gully, 2005-11-05. (in English)</ref>

[edit] Prime Minister

Following reports of a rift between Marcinkiewicz and Jarosław, Marcinkiewicz tendered his resignation on July 7 2006 and Jarosław was appointed Prime Minister by the President Lech Kaczyński on July 10 and officially sworn in on July 14, following the formation of cabinet and a confidence vote in the Sejm.

<ref> "Poland's prime minister resigns", BBC News Online, 2006-07-07. Retrieved on 2006-07-14.</ref> <ref> "Polish Leader Appoints Twin Brother PM", The Guardian, 2006-07-10. Retrieved on 2006-07-11.</ref> <ref> "Polish head swears in twin as PM", BBC News, 2006-07-14. Retrieved on 2006-07-14.</ref>